Domino
by Scarabbug
Summary: Sometimes you follow your destiny. Other times, destiny follows you. All the way to the ends of the earth, if it has to. Or maybe just as far as Domino City.
1. Prologue

**My first YuGiOh fic in as while this. Unbeta-ed. But reasonably well spellchecked (now, anyway). Reviews containing constrictive criticism are greatly appreciated. **

**Disclaimer: YuGiOh and all related canon characters are the property of Kazuki Takahashi or whoever he's sold them to, not myself. No personal-gain via copyright infringement is intended by the creation of this work of fanfiction. **

* * *

Prologue. 

It didn't get _especially_ weird until the morning came and brought with it the kind of light he couldn't ever remember existing.

He wished it still didn't. It hurt like Gods Wrath. A blood like glow, at first, which was almost bearable. But it soon grew brighter, until there was nothing but burning yellow splintered between the buildings.

He would get used to it, the same way he got used to everything. Until then, though, he had to shield his eyes, cover every last patch of skin and try to avoid being stepped on by the mass of humans that seemed to fill every street. _Literally_. The city throbbed with them, like something out of one of his dreams…

Not that he tended to dream a lot, these days.

The streets of the city were usually fairly quiet at this time of the day. He tried his hardest to avoid being out on the streets most of the time, anyway. It was better that way. Better that he not be seen at all than have to go to any special lengths to avoid the daytime threats.

At least, that was the way things worked where _he_ came from. He kept forgetting that this place was different. There would be no monsters or demons to leap out at you in the cruel sunlight. There were no freaks or spirits out to hunt you down the second you stepped out of the shadows, or cruel beasts come to claim your blood the second you stepped _into_ them. This whole city was unlike his in so many ways. Older and newer all in one breath. Newer _buildings_ but… older realities. Older ways of thinking and reacting to the world.

He had prepared long and hard for the day when he would set foot in this reality, but he had had no idea it would be like this. It wasn't nearly as silent here as it was in the place he called home, and the only creatures he could see were the humans, pacing the crowded streets. That was a surprise to him –to recall that they weren't at all _rare_ here. That their existence was not _always_ restricted to the time pockets and ruralised areas of the countryside where the shadows were the weakest. (Except for the people that had learned to handle the shadows for themselves, that was. And they were often the worst of a bad bunch. Almost admirable, in a twisted sort of way.)

The only shadows here, though, were those left in the wake of the dawn and the only animals were humans –_people_, he reminds himself of the word they used to use– walking the streets in abundance. He hadn't expected that. Silly of him, really. He should have. Things were… alive, here. It would've frightened him, except it'd been a long time since fear was ever an issue he concerned himself with. Fools alone feared the things they didn't know.

Someone bustled past him and the almost-contact made him shudder. Was that a… What did they call them? _Commuters_. Work travellers. People who journeyed via subways and sidewalks rather than portals. _And_ it was safe for them to do so. Safe to walk the streets and travel beneath the dirt in manmade tunnels. The words felt old and foreign to him. Sidewalk, subway, commuter. Words he hadn't heard or spoken in a very long time.

It'd been _such_ a long time…

Never mind. He had all the time he needed to remember.

Another human in a suit brushed close by, treading on the hems of a too-long coat. He resisted the urge to break something. No sense in starting any chaos – not yet. It would be too obvious what he was if he went and started attacking people out here and he wasn't used to having to watch how he behaved. These humans didn't know how important he was, after all. They had no idea of anything.

_No need to fear them. They aren't worth the effort. _His heart still thudded a bit, though, in spite of himself. Any closer to him and there would have been physical contact and he doesn't know what would've happened if it had come of that. Humans –from what he'd seen of them so far– were slow and clumsy and couldn't go five metres along the sidewalk without crashing into each other. Occasionally they shoved each other aside deliberately for better access to the path with to thought for the traffic. Now and then they'd stop in strange places and cause annoying pile ups or people.

Commuters were… irritating. And even their Shadows were flat and dull and completely lacking in anything interesting. _Might as well not give them souls at all, really_ he thought to himself, and then he almost laughed at that idea, because of course, there was no _such thing_ as a human without a soul. It was _clean_ souls that they tended to lack.

He didn't tend to laugh a lot these days.

'You shouldn't be out here in the sun.'

The voice was more mocking than genuinely concerned, but it got his attention. The speaker was sitting in the shade, just within the doorway of an unopened Café. He had a fold of paper pulled up to the brim of his eyes, disguising his features. The word _Newspaper_ popped into the stranger's brain, as if he remembered it from long ago. He was reading –or pretending to read– a newspaper. Of course.

He didn't have to force himself to feel insulted. 'Since when did _you_ tell _me_ what to do?'

'Since I started funding you, of course,' the reader still refused to look up from his paper. The stranger couldn't quite take his eyes off the cover. Perfectly still, black, inky forms on recycled white. If he thinks hard enough, he can almost remember what a Newspaper is actually _for_…

But that wasn't important right now. 'Do you _have_ it or not?'

'Do I have _what_, my friend? The funding?'

The stranger pulls out a chair, being careful to keep the sleeve of his coat pulled well over the skin of his hand. 'Do I _look_ like I have time for small talk?'

'There's always time for small talk. How are you this morning, by the way? Blow up anymore security guards, lately? Or perhaps a human maid?'

The stranger shrugged, slightly. 'No. They've been amazingly compliant, after the first time.'

'I'm glad to hear it. We humans are a suspicious bunch; you'll find that rumour spreads very quickly between us. And sometimes rumours can be more reliable than fact.'

The stranger smiled slightly at that. Perhaps some humans had a trace of intelligence about them, after all. 'Don't concern yourself with it,' he said. 'They won't talk to anyone. I've given them some very elaborate excuses to uphold.'

The newspaper ruffled in the Reader's hands and he sniffs. The word _friend_, the stranger thinks, is ridiculously misused in this context but it is true that this man –this _human_ man– really _is_ the closest thing he has to one. And the closest he ever wants to get.

'That's probably best for both of us, of course. Still I won't say you haven't caused enough damage as it is. You honestly think you can secure their silence?'

'No,' the stranger replied, calmly, reaching out to examine a scattered leaflet on the tabletop. 'They'll secure their own silence, if they have any intelligence at all.'

'If that is what you believe,' the reader smiled at him, thinly. 'Let's just try and keep things a little _quieter_ from now on, if we can help it.'

He thought he knew what he was dealing with. This was a mistake, but the stranger wasn't going to let _that_ slip until it was too late for anyone to back out. He'd lost too many perfectly healthy workers that way. 'I'll be as quite as I _need_ to be.'

'Why is it, that his statement does not fill me with confidence?' The reader lowered his newspaper ever so slightly and reached into an inside pocket. He produced a thin metal container, holding it out in front of him with some aplomb. The box reflected the light too much and made the stranger's eyes want to bleed. The reader flicked it open with a thump, though, before that could happen.

There in the box lay a single card. Fairly old and worn at the edges. The image creased half beyond recognition. It probably wouldn't even work anymore in an actual arena. (Arena. Strange. He remembered _that_ word all too well, at least. It was one thing he hadn't forgotten. That he _couldn't_ forget, no matter how he tried and how redundant remembering became. 'Perhaps this will be more reassuring of me, if not of you?'

'It's perfect.'

'So I should hope. It _cost _enough. You're spending an awful lot of our money, I have to say.' The reader pulled the box away slightly when the stranger reached for it. 'Of course, you _will_ fulfil your end of the bargain, my friend.'

Stupid human. Stupid like the rest of them, but at least he had the money.

'You know I will. Stop playing games or else.'

The Reader's smile changed from annoying to downright infuriating. 'My response to that order would, of course, depend on the source of your threat. Tell me: or else _what_?'

'Or else I'll show you how to play a game that's altogether more terrifying than anything you could possibly imagine.'

The stranger's voice is heavy with threat. Somewhere in the back of his mind there's a memory of… someone, shrieking in horror at the tone his voice was now taking. But it was a voice with no source.

_Forget it_,_ before it makes you ill or something,_ his subconscious ordered him, and so he did.

'Well, I suppose I shouldn't deny that, now, should I? And I _would_ be afraid, my friend, indeed I would… _if_ I didn't know how badly you needed me.' He lowered the paper enough for the stranger to see him smiling. For all he knew about mind games, the stranger would never understand this man. The line between confident game play and overconfident egotism was a thin one.

Well. Idiots were plentiful in a world with humans to spare. Idiots with enough funding, supplies and slippery fingers to be of use to him, however, were somewhat harder to get hold of.

'Maybe I _do_ need you. But not necessarily in one piece.'

'Touché.' The reader took a moment or two to allow the silver box to fall into the stranger's hand. He pocketed it quickly. 'A French word, in case you're wondering. It means that I submit to your apparently superior intellect.'

The stranger snorted under his breath. 'You weren't funny the first time you opened your mouth in front of me, _friend_. And you certainly haven't improved in the last ten minutes.'

'Ah no, but please, permit me to believe I have illusions, my lord.'

'I'll handle all the illusions around here, Cortes. You just handle the funding.'

After a few moments The Reader's face quirked into a smile, and he sounded almost genuine in the midst of a half-bow. 'But of course, master.'

The stranger nodded, satisfied, and went back to watching the humans that were still crowded the morning streets.

'There aren't many shadows here,' he said. 'Funny, even with all the light around us, there still isn't much to look at in these people beyond their basic shells. What is it that drives them to do this, anyway? Why get up every day and step into some pool of sunlight which won't even give them decent shadows?'

'Have you really forgotten so much?' Cortes raised an eyebrow. 'You told me you weren't always… what was it you said? Weren't always _foreign to this world_?'

'Something like that. I used to know, probably. Why would you be interested?'

'It's my job to be interested in your affairs, is it not?'

'You couldn't even begin to _understand_ my affairs, human, so there's no use in trying to pretend you do. What I am or am not _foreign to_ is no concern of yours. Do your job.'

'…You know, small talk, apparently doesn't become you anyway,' Cortes said, less dryly than before, the stranger noted. 'Do you ever wonder, stranger, what it is you lost n the process of losing whatever... humanity –or whatever it's called, where your kind come from– you had?'

'Who says I ever had _any_ humanity? I'm not one of you.'

The reader didn't respond to that statement, but he gave no sign that he did not believe him. '…I found an alternative to what you… _people_ call living,' the stranger said, by way of explanation.

'I doubt many humans would make the same choice that you did,' Cortes said, with when should have been disturbing _calm_.

'Who said it was a choice? Anyway, you're right, for once. Your kind wouldn't have the nerve.'

'Or perhaps it's the desperation that we lack.'

'Not yet,' the stranger said, smile changing to something oddly more malicious. 'But… it might make sense to you, one day. If you survive that long.'

It wasn't his imagination. Cortes' shoulders did indeed stiffen ever so slightly at those very words. Interesting. Perhaps he understood at least some of the situation after all. 'You look worried. Why? You're giving me what I want. Didn't I promise I'd protect those who look after my own?'

'I don't doubt your sincerity,' Cortes responded.

'No. But my _ability_… do you doubt that? You'll see tonight that have nothing to worry about, Cortes. Things are always easier, after the sun goes down.'

'It certainly makes it easier to hide and skulk in the shadows.'

'Shadows are another thing you know almost nothing about,' the stranger said, continuing to observe the humans, so that when he did, actually, turn and look Cortes in the eye, the man shivered slightly under the strong, sharp eyes, peeking out from a swaddled face. '…The paper. Let me see it.' He reached out to take the newspaper from the reader's hand without allowing him to fulfil the request. The front page read just as he had expected. The headline was large and bold, yet not so distinct as to be the main headline. It was good enough. Would _have to be_ good enough. He ran his hand across the black ink typing, feeling the ink come loose on his fingertips.

'It's not much, I'm afraid,' Cortes said, evenly. 'There's only so far we can go on blind faith, eventually settlements have to be made.'

'I already told you that I don't make promises I don't intend to keep, Cortes, try and have a little faith in something you can't actually see.'

'And what of _him_?'

'_He_ doesn't matter, anyway. He's just a trifle that wasn't supposed to exist anyway.'

'Unlike you.' Cortes says, softly, still holding the card in an outstretched hand, palm open like a gift from the Gods.

But the Gods abandoned him a long time ago, if they ever cared a shred in the first place. This man now is the closest thing he has to one in this strange, human-filled world. A businessman.

'Yes,' the stranger said, with bizarre certainty as he reached out to take the card from his friend/enemy/partner/funder's outstretched hand. 'Unlike me.'


	2. Rules and Regulations

New Chapter. Standard Disclaimers apply here as per usual. Grammatical errors in this chapter and the prologue have been (mostly, hopefully) fixed.

* * *

Chapter One: Rules and Regulations. 

It started the same way in which all tournaments tended to begin. Not that many people remembered the tedious process you always had to go through before you even got into the arena:

"_Welcome all Competitors to the **Domino GX Tournament**, the first of its kind to be held in Japan. This tournament is brought to you thanks to sponsors from the Kaiba Corporation and the Chimera Society of Genetics Evolution…_

'Chimera…Hm, I've never heard of them.'

'Meh. What does it matter? They're Sponsors, is all. They fork out the cash, the tournament gets going.'

'It's Kaiba Corp I wonder about. How'd they talk _him_ into giving up any dough?'

'Maybe they let him make all these freaking rules or something. Keep reading, man.'

'Okay…

"_It is important to note that the Tournament Regulations must be upheld at all times by all competitors and observers alike. Strict adherence must be maintained at all times with disciplinary action including –but not limited to– disqualification from the **Domino GX Tournament** and removal of level points brought about as a result of any acts of deviation concerning the following rules: _

_Duellist's are to report immediately to the main gateway when called up for battle and not before or after._

_Duellists are not to leave their quarters unless summoned._

_Any Duellist found to not possess the rating of Two Stars (or their country's national equivalent) will be disqualified. _

_Trading and alteration of decks, manipulation of opponents' decks and conspiracy with or against other competitors is forbidden. _

_The fireworks turf, maintenance decks, judges' gallery and the upper three floors of the tournament stadium are out of bounds. _

_A duellist can have a maximum of two coaches or aides at their duelling ring at any one time. None of these aides can be other competing duellists._

_Non Duellist Aides and Family members are restricted to the rooms of their appropriate duellist and the duel ring perimeter. _

_Competitors are not to leave their designated areas even when summoned to an arena. _

_There is no potential for variation on the size and strength of duel decks. Monsters with over three thousand attack points are illegal. Decks containing more than forty cards are illegal. _

_Tournament Passes must be kept in competitors possession at all times._

_The vendors of this contest will take no responsibility for any cards, due disks, tickets or other possessions stolen or misplaced on the premises. _

_The Egyptian God Cards are banned from use in this Tournament. _

'Heeey, whaddyaknow, Yuge. They put in a rule there especially for you.'

'…I guess they did. Unless they've been mass producing when I wasn't looking, and grandpa would've known about that. Heck, I would've probably known, too…'

"_- Exodia the Forbidden One cards are banned from the competition, even as individual cards in decks not containing all five Exodia pieces. _

_The final statement of the judge in each match is law. All disagreements concerning mitigating circumstances must be taken up with trained GX Officials._

_Duellists must bring and/or leave no important personal possessions in their rooms besides their decks and duelling equipment. Foodstuffs can be purchased at several locations…_

'Now _that's_ what I'm talking about!'

'Um, "…_However_ _drinking, eating or smoking outside of the designated areas is forbidden…" _

'Aw, crud.'

'Hm, looks like they put in a rule specifically for you, too, Joey.'

'…Oh, Ha. Ha. Jerk.'

'Guys, we're not finished…'

'Oh, darn don't tell me there's _more _stuff we're not allowed to do?'

_Attempting to distract or otherwise trick the opponent while in the duelling arena is illegal. Playing psychological mind games with your opponent will not be tolerated outside of certain bounds. A certain level of tactic intimidation is permitted within limits. _

_Alcohol is not to be consumed on premises. _

_The selling of duel cards within the building is prohibited. _

_You cannot use cards which have not been registered as your own in the entrance card scanner databanks you will be required to register with at the beginning of your first GX Tournament duel. _

_It is required that rooms are kept tidy and organized. Respect must be shown at all times for tournament property. _

'It's finished now, right?' Joey looked up hopefully from the mess of squashed pillows in which he'd had his face well and truly buried. 'Please, God, tell me it's _finished_.' He had a point. Surely there couldn't be _anymore_ rules to break.

Yugi scanned the page once more. 'Um… I think so. Oh, wait there's some small print down here… _"All competitors resign the right to take legal action against the company upon acceptance of these forms. Anyone deciding to leave the contest before the fi_"—'

'Alright, alright, we get it already!'

'Well don't yell at me, I'm just the messenger.' Yugi leaned his head back against the bed. 'You know this means I can't cheer you on in my match intervals. Especially as we're not allowed to leave our rooms, you're not allowed guidance from other competitors.'

Joey whistled through his teeth. 'So… come back Battle City, all is forgiven, huh?'

'Well, I'm not sure if a Shadow Game would be preferable to this one…' Yugi shrugged, folding the letter back into its duel-card shaped envelope.

'True,' Tristan nodded. 'I mean, at least the maximum penalty here is disqualification from the tournament and not disqualification from life-as-we-know-it. And Battle City didn't have en-suite bathrooms.'

Joey grunted. 'Still, is this a duel competition, or some kinda police camp? I mean how the heck're we supposed to go to the _bathroom_ if we can't leave our rooms?'

'…The Bathroom is over there, Joey; attached to the bedroom.'

'Man, do you even know the definition of "en-suite"?'

'Well I do _now,_ don't I?'

'Yeah, maybe, but what if it _wasn't?_**' **Joey waved a hand vaguely in the air. 'These weird duel tournament residential, custom built stadium thingies… they just don't think about these things when they put em' up. They don't even have a chilli dog stand in the hall, can you believe that? I mean just think of all the cash they'd make with one of those.'

'Yeah, from you alone, buddy.'

'Ah cut it out already, monkey boy.'

'…You know one of these days, that joke is gonna get old, Joey.'

Joey grinned in Tristan's direction. 'Maybe, but not any time soon.'

Yugi figured this would be a good time to change the subject, lest the others decide to start a pillow fight or something. He's pretty sure that would count as _"disrespect for Tournament property"_. 'The trade in Domino has been booming since the stadium was built, though. We had to re-order twice as much stock as usual this week and it's still not enough to keep up with the tourists. And let's face it, if they hadn't been sponsored and loaned out land by Kaiba Corp, they'd never even have gotten permission to build it. We're talking a stadium fit for fifteen thousand people, here.'

Tristan shrugged, thumping a few buttons on a mobile phone.

'No calls, Tristan?'

'Just one. Téa, obviously. She wanted me to let you know she'll be here when she's through psychologically terrorising—Uh, I mean… calmly discussing her study schedule with dance tutor number two. Bakura's gonna pick her up, I think. Still, how they're supposed to get the right rooms –or any rooms at all– when they get here is… not something we've worked out let. That's about it. There aren't any rules on that list about not using cell-phones, are there?'

Yugi's expression quirked a little and he made the pretence of checking the list. 'Nope, I guess they must've forgotten.'

'Oh, good. Sounds like this'd be a good time to go make some trading calls, before they realise they left that rule out. Besides you know how cranky that guy gets if he doesn't get any sleep.' He pointed in Joey's direction.

'Yeah, go on, get outta here an make your calls, monkey boy.'

'We'll see who's making jokes when I'm creaming the opposition tomorrow.'

'Yeah until you get to someone with over six stars and fall flat on your face, man. Just try not to lose too badly. I mean we have reputations as your official aides to keep up.'

'Ha!'

'No, I'm serious, I placed bets. Night!' Joey threw a pillow in Tristan's direction – a little too late though, as he'd already ducked out of the door.

'Bah, he's just chewed 'cause he's too many stars under to qualify,' Joey grinned in semi-serious annoyance at the doorway. 'Right, Yuge?'

'If you say so, Joey.'

The story of Yugi Mouto's life. Playing peacemaker.

What followed was a comfortable kind of silence. Or perhaps, _comfortable_ was the wrong choice of word. _Normal_ might have been more like it. One of those quiet moments where nobody can think what to say, nor feels required to say anything at all. But in times like this, sooner or later, the more… interesting subjects tended to came up. This night was no exception to that rule, and of course, Joey was right on cue with his semi-concerned:

'…Yuge?'

Yugi turned over a magic card on the hard wood floor. And, a few seconds later, got a face full of pillow. 'Hey, earth to Yugi!'

'Mf. Nothing.'

'Oh,' Joey remained unconvinced. 'So. _Nothing's_ the reason you gotta look on your face like Kaiba drank your coffee this morning?'

Yugi frowned again. 'Well, he could've _asked_ me first. I would've given him some. I mean it's _his_ company's coffee vender.'

A chuckle from Joey's general direction. 'Seriously, man, what is it?'

'It's just… nothing, I mean it. Just some of those _rules_. Kinda reminded me of Battle City gone bad… or… well, Battle City gone _worse_.'

'Like I said, man, Kaiba was in on it. How else do you think the rule about the God Cards got on there? He probably thinks you can't last without using 'em. Anyway, he's probably just pissed off because he can't compete in this one.'

Yugi shuffled his deck absently on the floor in front of him. One thing he'd had to get used to, he'd noticed, was that his deck no longer continued to shuffle itself if he wasn't paying it his full attention. There was no other consciousness to take over anymore if Yugi got distracted. Not that he often got distracted while duelling.

'Sponsoring a duel contest has probably never stopped Kaiba from _entering_ before, Joey.' He said. 'I mean, _creating_ a contest _himself_ never stopped him. That and he runs almost all the tournaments that happen in Domino anyway. It's not that…' Yugi frowned down at the cards on the floor which had hardly changed from their previous position. The lightness around his neck still felt… unnatural. '…It's the mind games thing, for one. I've never seen them _place limits_ on psychological strategy before, except when it gets to the point where people are spending more time arguing with their opponent than they are duelling. But a huge number of duellists have at least some thought manipulation in their strategy. It's all part of the game.'

'Whoo. Psychological strategy… _thought manipulation_. Man, you're just a creepy lil' sneak at heart, aren't ya?' Joey grinned.

'…What?'

'C'mon Yuge. So a few duellists'll have to rework their tact a little. No biggie. Your grandpa always says duelling's all about adapting, right?'

'Yeah but… I know it sounds ironic, but it just doesn't seem logical. Don't you think it's putting too much of a disadvantage on a lot of players?'

There was another pause while Joey failed to think of a good response to this question. 'And what about the rooms?' Yugi added, tilting his head up to get a weird half-glance at his best friend's semi-puzzled expression. 'There are four main duelling rings, and a total of _fifteen-and-a-half-thousand_ people wanting to watch these duels from the sidelines. Yet for some reason, they've _cut off_ access to the top three floors reducing the maximum capacity of the stadium to twelve thousand? And then there's…'

A yawn . 'Yugi, you realise all this saving-the-world stuff has turned you into one suspicious not-so-little guy, don'tcha?' Yugi scowled. 'What? Hey, at least I took into account the growth spurts, man, lighten up. Can't you just… go to bed or something and worry about it in the morning?'

'You know that's _my_ bed you're on. And I'm not just… making up problems where there aren't any for the sake of it, Joey. It's being _cautious_, that's all. It's just…'

'…Mind games.' Joey finished, thumping at the pillow under his head, aimlessly. 'Right?'

Something shifted in Yugi's stomach which he couldn't quite explain, the cards scattering under his fingertips rather than folding neatly back into their deck when he wanted them too. Ya—Atem had always been a better shuffler than he was. 'Hm.'

'You're good at those.'

'…What?'

'Well, not exactly I mean actually _you're_ kinda useless at it…' Joey sat up and Yugi realised for the first time that the lights were going out. Funny, there'd been nothing on the rule list about a curfew, though he supposed there had to be one. 'No offence, Yugi, but… you just can't _lie_ to people or hide stuff from them, you know? remember you told Téa about her surprise birthday party three weeks before her birthday?

'…That was an accident.'

'Maybe, but still, my point is made, Yugi. You don't _use_ psyche-outs. It's not your tack. But… it _was_ his, you know?'

There was another long silence, this one not so comfortable. They didn't need to mention names, because "his" identity was just completely obvious. 'He just knew how to psyche people. It creeped me out something awful when I was duelling him. And don't even get me started on the weird _Seal of Ori_…_whatever-los_ thing. That guy was damn _scary_ when he had you in a psyche out. You never knew _what_ he was thinking.'

'I… have to admit, he'd probably have a handicap in this one, what with the rule _against_ psychological banter.'

'Y'think he would've enjoyed it anyway?'

'You know he would've. But Atem's not here.' Yugi said. He sounded a little more cheerful there than he meant to, but Joey decided to spare them both the stress and not comment on it. or maybe he just hadn't noticed. '_We_ are. _And_ we have a tournament to win. And best of all –it's _not_ going to involve the end of the world if we lose.'

'Right…' Joey started slowly. He didn't sound convinced. 'No apocalypses. Great. That's always a plus.'

'And no shadow duels,' Yugi added. '_And_ we don't even have any big time duellists breathing down our necks like they have been for the last ten months and one hundred and fifteen battles –they're not allowed to leave their dorms! That's a positive, right?'

Joey chuckled. 'Y'know, Yugi you might still be a little _short_ for breathing down anyone's necks…'

'Hey!'

'…But you still kinda _are_ the big-time duellist around here.'

'I guess… So then we're okay?'

Joey shuffled for a moment, behind Yugi's shoulder, then he seemed to accept the idea. 'Yeah. See, _that's_ what I'm talkin' about Yugi, let's think positive here, I mean it's not like—_'_

_**Something's been broken and you have no idea what it is until the shards have cut you open…**_

Yugi started.

Though actually, "_started_" was probably the wrong choice of word. "_Jumped two feet in the air_ _and scattered his duel cards all over the floor in amazement_" might have been closer to the truth. It certainly got Joey's attention, for one thing. His words trailed off into silence and…

…And what had Joey just said there?

Wait, what was— who…?

'Uh… Yuge? You okay?'

_**It's broken and you know it is. Still, nothing to do but wait for it. **_

_**I wish I could be certain of that. **_

_**You can. Trust me. **_

Yugi could feel himself shuddering, only now he had realised that Joey couldn't actually hear what _he_ was hearing– maybe because there was nothing _to_ hear. Even Yugi hadn't so much _heard_ the words as…

As _felt_ them, he realised. Thumping into him like memories from a dream. He had _felt_ the worse, echoing in his brain, like something out of a bad movie or one of his dreams about Ancient Egypt.

'What in the name of…'

'Yuge? Um… Yuge, are you alive there or do I have to call a—'

'Nothing!' Yugi said way too quickly and shook his head to push away the memories. Joey was leaning over the bed and staring at him. His cards were still scattered out across the floor. The door half open from where Tristan had left it. Everything looked exactly as it should have. Nothing was different.

…Except maybe for the goosebumps crawling across his skin. 'I. it's nothing.'

'U-_huh_. Buddy, I think I have about as much faith in that as I do your definition of "_cautious_".'

Joey was looking at him funny by this point, and Yugi knew he had to say something. Only what? There wasn't anything to talk about, was there?

The words _Trust Me_ whispered again in Yugi's mind, only this time it felt more like an echo, proof that there had once been a voice but was one no longer. Of course, Yugi had had a while to come to terms with the fact that it was no longer perfectly acceptable (or normal in anyway) to be hearing other peoples voices inside your head.

That wasn't _Yami_ talking. It hadn't felt _anything_ like the pharaoh.

'Yugi? Man, talk to me here? Tell me this ain't pre-tournament nerves, okay?'

'Um. No, no it's not that it's…um…' Things like "nothing, Joey, was just a little creepy voice-not-voice inside of my head there but it's gone again now." would have been difficult for Yugi to say to anyone, once. Now… not so much.

Voices in his head, and this time, Yugi had to be certain that it was just his imagination. Because, hell, it was the night before a tournament – the first one they'd had for months did _not_ involving apocalypses and ancient duelling destinies, for that matter.

This was not a good time to be going crazy. '_Oh, get a grip, Yugi_,' he thought to himself in a slightly annoyed way. '_You're overreacting, for heavens sakes_.'

Imagination. Yeah.

Only Joey wasn't going to buy that excuse. And he was still looking at Yugi intently, expecting an explanation.

Seeing no other was for getting out of this, Yugi opted for a good old fashioned distraction technique. He stacked his half-shuffled cards back in their pile and went to reclaim the bed.

'Seriously man, if anything's—Oof! Gah! Hey, move it, Yuge!

'No. _My_ bed, go back to your own room if you want one.'

'Ow! Yuge!'

'Like I said, not your bed, Joey.'

'Gah! Sheesh, okay, okay, I'm going already. Damn duelling champions and their need for personal space…'

Yugi smiled as Joey staggered off the bed in the direction of the door. 'I'll see you in the morning, Joey.'

'Sure, whatever. I'm gonna find Tristan and see if I can get him to call for take-out on that cell-phone of his… pre tournament jitters always make me hungry.'

The door shut behind him and Yugi was left alone with his thoughts. However disturbing those thoughts might turn out to be. He lay there in silence for a couple of minutes, listening carefully for any kind of disturbance. There was nothing, so Yugi picked up his duel deck and placed it back on the cabinet.

**_Trust me_**. Something muttered in the back of Yugi's brain. He ignored it.

It was frankly disturbing how good he was at doing that.

* * *

**Reviews and concrit are appreciated. **


	3. Demonstrative

**New chapter finally up, un-betaed and standard disclaimers apply. Also I have gone back and corrected a whole tonne of grammar errors in the first two chapters. My apologies if it made anyone's eyes bleed.

* * *

**

Chapter Two: Demonstrative.

_**8:40 pm, Block A7, Wing Rating: Four and Five Stars. Room A39. **_

She _hated_ waiting.

Most of all she hated waiting _alone_. Heck, she'd spent a lot of her childhood in a caravan, where there wasn't usually enough _room_ to be solitary, even though that _was_ always pretty much exactly what she had been.

Prodigy. Genius. _Child Duellist Extraordinaire_ and all those other fancy names the newspapers gave her… so yeah, people like her didn't exactly pop out of life like low level magic cards pop out of a rookie's deck. Rebecca had never had many friends her own age who had really _understood_ her.

Actually, she'd never had _any_ friends her own age. Except for teddy, that was, and she was way too old for plushies now, anyway.

Damn, was that a depressing thought or what? _'Less depressing thoughts Rebecca. Think happy ones now. You're playing in the tournament tomorrow, remember? You've got too many asses to kick to waste time feeling sorry for yourself.'_

Rebecca had always had her grandpa around, somewhere close by. So for all the times she had been _lonely_ in her life, she still wasn't really used to being entirely _by herself_. (Not even when she was dragging suitcases up the streets of Japan, several thousand miles away from America having left her grandfather panicking in the nearest hotel… that had probably been the first time Rebecca had gone out on the streets alone, (aged eight-and-a-half years). After all, she was a grown up, now. _Mean Streets of Domino_ her foot, the most dangerous thing in _this_ sleepy little town was the attitude of its duellists.

Rebecca liked that.

She didn't, however, like being alone –and bored out of her skull– in a tournament where she _should've_ been able to show off all her skills to at least fifty people by now. What was with all of these god darn Rules, anyway? _No leaving the premises unless summoned or directed? No leaving things in your room? No psyching out your opponent? _Why the heck was _that _important? Anyway Rebecca, though, she was a ten year old kid going up against adult champions. She was guaranteed to psyche them out without even _trying_.

And damn, was she bored right now…

Of course, Grandpa was _still_ only a phone call away (he pretty much made sure that he always was)…

'Mhm. Yeah, I think it's okay. The rooms aren't all _that_ bad.'

…And at least that stupid mile-long rule list hadn't said _anything_ about mobile phones. They must've spent a lot of money building this place. All the duellists even got their own bathrooms.

'Yeah, yeah, I _know_. I just wonder sometimes… I know you do. Sorry? Oh, yeah, he's in it, alright. Just like you said, Grandpa. His name's listed on the website as one of the top competitors. Right up there with me. Oh, and Joey Wheeler's in this one too. He's a little lower down the list.'

…

'No, I can't. They're in another block and these stupid regulations say that "_Duellists are not to leave their quarters unless summoned to an arena" _so I can't even go see them. I mean, what's _that_ supposed to be about? What trouble are we gonna get up to when they've got all those Tournament official guys walking around in weird suits and following us all _everywhere_ we go? It's kinda _weird_.'

'No, of course I'm not _worried_, grandpa! Well… maybe a little. Yugi's really good. But I might not _have_ to face him. He might get knocked out before he gets to me, right?'

He answered her. Rebecca sighed.

'_Grandpa_, you're using your humour-Rebecca-to-keep-her-happy voice again. You know I'm getting way too old for that. Don't laugh, grandpa, its true! And… well, yeah, I know he probably won't get knocked out. We'll probably end up duelling against each other at some point or another.'

…

'Yeah… I know you believe in me, thanks and all that, but you can cut it with the mushy stuff now, grandpa.'

…

'You're right. Neither will I. Thanks, grandpa. Um… you can stop worrying about me and go do your work now.'

…

'I know you don't _mean_ it, but get serious! It's not like I've never been anywhere on my own before. We've _been_ pretty much everywhere in the world, remember? This is just one little dormitory in the same city as you are and I'm all on my own, nobody else here to bother me.'

…

'Hey! I'm not a little kid anymore, you know. Man, you weren't like this back in Egypt with that whole pharaoh mess, what's with the over protective attitude, all of a sudden? Don't feel bad that you couldn't be here, the museum is important too. You've seen me duel a lot of times. It's fine, really. Besides we came all the way from Europe just so I could take part in this tournament and you could see that funny archaeologist's study thing. No point in turning back now.'

…

'Uhuh. I'll say hi for you if I see him. Or when. I hope I do. We're not _that_ far apart, he's just in the dorm on the other side of the corridor. Urgh. Dumb old tournament rules.'

…

'Yeah, yeah I know there's probably a good reason for _all of them_, but they're still stupid.'

…

'Uhuh. I'll call you again after I win my first match.'

…

Another sigh. Or maybe a suppressed yawn. Rebecca shuffled on the pillow and told herself she wasn't tired yet. 'Yeah, of course I promise not to be a sore loser. I mean I'd have to actually _lose_ to be that.'

…

'Hee. Yeah, right. Talk to ya later, grandpa. Bye.'

The phone went dead in Rebecca's hand.

Really, she thought, it wasn't all _that_ bad being here on your own. Nice and quiet, too. Not like some of those tournament waiting rooms back in America. She'd _hated_ it back there, crammed in a crowded room with all those other little kids and wannabes. She'd sooner have been talking to _real_ competitors and real duellists back in the adults areas.

But then, duellists had never really taken her seriously back in the old days (all of four years ago). Maybe she couldn't blame them for it. World Champion duellists didn't usually come in pint size form. In fact there were only two Champions that Rebecca could think of who _did_. She was one of them.

The favourite card sat at the top of her deck the way it always did. It was funny that Rebecca hadn't had a chance to use it in so long. She didn't even have any idea what it _did_, if it did anything at all. She'd never had a chance to draw and find out. Maybe this would be the chance to do so, she thought to herself. Maybe even in a duel with Yugi himself, so they could both show off what they were made of. Now that would be something.

Rebecca smiled as she switched off the lights and buried her face into the pillows.

That was the moment when the world went black, in a very different way to what Rebecca was expecting.

_**Do you think it's…?**_

_**Yes, do it now while you still have the chance. **_

Rebecca jumped.

Actually, no that wasn't the right word. She didn't just _jump_ a little. She almost _hurtled_ right off the bed the second the lights died, and then the _voices_ started and the weird sensation of crawling beetles started climbing up her legs, and that was what _really_ creeped her out. The voices were still ringing in her head, like some kind of echo at the bottom of a corridor and what in the name of hell was—

Rebecca felt a chill running down her spine. The hand that was now closing around her mouth and the other one clutching her throat in a vice grip, knocking the duel cards off the table besides her, probably had something to do with it.

_**Do it now, you idiot! **_

She didn't actually scream. No way. Not her. She figured that she really _should_ have, no matter how childish it was. Then somebody might've come to help her. But then, whoever might've come probably wouldn't have been much good anyway, because Rebecca had never fault anything even half as strong as the thing –or person or whatever it was– now dragging her across the hotel room floor. She had some very serious doubts about whatever it was being _human_, though, judging by how it managed to creep up on her in a quiet room, hide –apparently under her _bed, _like a boogieman, or something, except Rebecca didn't believe in them_– _until she lay down to go to sleep, and then lash out at her with the precision of a cobra.

Also, she was pretty damn certain that in the growing darkness all around her, she had seen its eyes, glowing bright silver and chilling her to the core.

And she still didn't even have the nerve to scream.

* * *

**Reviews and concrit are appreciated. **


	4. Familiar Strangers

**New chapter, standard disclaimers apply. **

**Damn, four chapters and we haven't even started a duel yet... I promise to fit one into either the next chapter or the one after that. I'm pretty sure it'll work there.

* * *

**

Chapter Three: Familiar Strangers. 

_9:05 pm. Kaiba Corporation Main Building. _

By Seto Kaiba's definition of the words, tonight had been an early finish. Mokuba would still be awake (most likely against everyone else's will), and sitting in front of a computer somewhere in the building.

He'd heard it said somewhere that children traditionally liked to keep the rest of the world awake with temper tantrums and constant requests for glasses of water. Mokuba, however, would rather argue on the phone with businessmen in Florida and pester people with constant requests for the specifications for the latest duelling tournament. Not to mention rant about the inanity of Seto's lack of _participation_ in aforementioned tournament as the result of technical small print he'd been too distracted to try and think of a loophole for.

Seto Kaiba was, in a strange, distant sense of the word, rather… proud of his brother's abilities. Only now, though, was he starting to get infuriated by them. Mokuba still didn't understand the details of business nearly as well as he liked to _believe_ he did. He was, after all, only a child, no matter what anyone else might dare to presume.

Most people, however, didn't presume that at all. That was one of the things which made Kaibas formidable. Their youth meant they were frequently underestimated by their competitors.

Seto paused in the driveway to glance upwards. The stars were bright over the streets tonight. Which was a funny thing to notice and not the sort of thing he usually paid attention to… Damned Yugi and his need to draw attention to finicky pointless details. The boy was giving him bad habits.

"_Stars are cool out here, right Kaiba? They were never so bright back in Domino.'_

'_What did you expect, Mouto? There's no artificial lightning in the desert.' _

'…_I think you're missing the point.' _

'_And I honestly can't believe you're more focussed on the _stars_. For God's sakes, Yugi, you just saved the world. Apparently, anyway.' _

'_It wasn't me, not all on my own. But… yeah, I know. And that's why the stars are still here anyway, right?'_

'…'

'_They're still going on. Forever. Because _we_ saved the world. Because _he_ did. I think that's important. We might as well be able to make the most of them.'_

'_They'll still _be_ there tomorrow night, Yugi. You're not missing any once-in-a-lifetime spectacles.' _

'_Then why are _you_ out here?'_

'_Fresh air.' _

_Yugi gazed at him sceptically. 'Fresh air blowing at fifty miles per hour outside of a train? In a freezing cold _desert_ in the middle of the night?'_

'Cold_ fresh air, then,' Seto said with a tone that meant this-conversation-is-over-now-for-goodness-sakes-go-bother-the-mutt-instead-of-me. 'And that isn't _your_ jacket you're wearing.'_

'_Um… Well it's not _yours_ either, so why're you complaining?' _

'_Like I said, Yugi, the cosmos isn't going anywhere special, tonight.' So can't you damn well go and view it somewhere _else_ and leave me in peace? _

'_How do you know?' Yugi had his head turned back to the stars again. 'Maybe they're _not_ there anymore, anyway.' _

'_What?'_

'_You were listening in Physics Class. If light takes thousands of years to travel from where they are to the earth, then all those stars could have already been dead for centuries and we'd never even know about it. So they _could_ actually disappear tomorrow, if we were lucky enough to see it… Probably not all at once, though, obviously.' _

'…_You can be one strange kid sometimes. I suppose it figures.' _

_Yugi smiled at him. _

…Okay, so the little dweeb was rubbing off on him. But it was true. The stars had never been so bright out here before…

Wait.

Kaiba had noticed the street lights. Or rather, the total _lack_ of them. There was no light except for that coming from the limo's headlights, where it waited at the other end of the driveway.

A busy high street just outside of the Kaiba Corporation's main building… and not a light to be seen. A power cut? Unlikely, every light inside the building had been working only moments before. He turned around and the building behind him was as black as the grave.

Not right. Something about this was not right at all and every businessman's instinct in Seto's body was telling him so. They were also, however, informing him that going _back_ into the building, however furious he was, might not be the best course of action.

One hand reached for his cel-phone. Then stopped, because the phone had already started ringing before he'd even gotten to it. _Incoming Call. Reversed Charges. Number Unknown_.

Reversed charged? Somebody had a nerve, whoever they were.

'What in the world?'

Kaiba's mind ran through all the possibilities like clockwork. He wasn't exactly surprised that "_someone's-been-kidnapped_" was the first possibility to spring to mind. That was however, soon weighed over by more sensible suggestions such as "_those wretched dealers in Hong Kong are about to go under again, aren't they?_" or "_those damn fools in San Francisco can't even organize the creation of theme park for two freaking days without me, what the hell have they done wrong this time_?" or "_who the hell gave my number out to a random female stalker_?" and other such questions of limited importance and maximum irritability.

Just standing wondering wasn't going to get answers. Kaiba pressed the answer key. 'Kaiba here. What is it?'

The caller answered.

Not a kidnapper, then. Not one of his useless business managers in another country, either. The voice, still, however, wasn't one Kaiba had wanted to hear from any time soon. Either in person _or_ down a phone line.

'_Kaiba-boy! So _sorry_ about the power cut, but I thought maybe we could talk in more private surroundings.' _

Oh. Hell.

_9:09 pm. A hidden location somewhere within the **CSGE** Laboratory Region. Exact area unknown. _

One thing was certain –there was nothing wrong with its _teeth_.

Actually, very rarely had there ever been _anything_ wrong with the teeth. Jaws filled with several rows of teeth pointed enough to slice your skin if you so much as accidentally brushed against them, designed for killing at the basest level. No problem in production _there_.

The problem was with its _body_, which now lay broken and useless at the bottom of the large, semi circular, light filled container. There was black liquid pouring from cracks where cracks shouldn't have existed, and a smell reminding him very much of the otherworld. One budging eye glared blindly from its socket, twitching occasionally. The creature lay dead –or at the very least, dying– at the bottom of the deep tank.

'The energy boost. Give it another Cardiac Shock; we'll see if we can electrocute some life back into it.'

A girl knelt in front of the control panel, her head down, lost within a tangle of wires. She was unable to see down into the pit herself, so she had no idea what was happening except for what she heard of it. Probably just as well. He'd seen her earlier, white faced and sickly at the sight of their last _failure_. Humans like her were so… delicate minded. She shifted the card lying face down on a sensor pad, one hand creeping over her nose to cover it. Whatever was happening down in the pit which she couldn't yet see, she certainly _smelt_ it.

'Didn't you hear me, human?'

'But I think… I think it's another failure, I don't think anymore shocks would.'

'_Do_ as I _told_ you. Reboot the power.'

The girl's hands were shaking as they sightlessly found some switches on the panel just above her eye line –as she had done many times before– and flicked them into life. Almost instantly Blue rivulets of energy seemed to seep straight out of individual sockets on the floor of the tank. At least twenty five thousand bolts, mingling with black blood and heaving flesh. The creature's screams only intensified for a few seconds. Then they died down again.

There was a long moment of silence as he stared into the pit. The creature gave a half hearted, eel-like thrash against the walls. Seemed it wasn't dead after all, but it certainly wasn't good for anything else.

'…Sir?'

'I heard you the first time. I'd _expected_ it would be this way. Get up off the floor and give me the card,' he added, almost as an afterthought. She did what he told her without a thought, brushing the dirt from the chamber floor away from her knees before reaching out to take a card from the panel; she places it into his hand before glancing in the direction of the experiment. For the first time, she actually saw the results of the experiment. Her face turned the expected shade of green.

'Oh, God… Um. Yeah…' she coughed. 'Failure, sir.'

He ignored her. Down below the body of the beast finally sagged and collapsed, slamming hard against the pit wall as it went down. The girl covered her ears, as if the very sound of its screaming caused her pain.

'Not enough magic,' he murmured. 'That's the problem… with this world _and_ with the experiment, and we can't have one without the other. We need higher concentrations than what we're getting here.' He glanced from the pit to the girl, still staring into it. 'Disgusting, isn't it?' he said.

The girl continued to stand there silently, shuffling from foot to foot. By human standards she was… young. Too small for her uniform. An undergraduate from the nearby university in the field of biology and psychometrics. _Young and foolish_, or so the old human saying went. She would soon learn better, if she hadn't learned _already_ in their last seventeen experiments.

A human might have called her attractive –an odd word to apply to such an asymmetrical creature, yet a very old part of him almost understood the assumption. She opened her mouth and he knew it was to ask whether or not such a sight truly disgusted him, or if he was just commenting on her expression. The successes tended not to look any more attractive to her than the failures did.

'If it dies get them to dispose of it,' he said, calmly stepping away from the shatterproof glass window that looked down into the tank. 'However they want, so long as it's done discreetly. We don't want any more humans looking like you do.'

'What… what if it doesn't?'

'Die, you mean?' he shrugged, gazing nonchalantly at the still heaving creature below. He didn't honestly place much faith in that possibility, but his humans had a tendency to be overemotional. 'If it stays alive keep the body. We may need to recycle its energy. The spirit is still there, however weak it might be.' He almost sighed, but managed to restrain himself. 'So many failures. Looks like that supposed Chinese Master didn't have as much _chi_ as he thought he did.'

Again, the girl's mouth opened but the question she wanted to ask never emerged. He answered it anyway. 'Yes, girl. That was a _joke_. I'm not entirely lacking in humour, it's just _usually_ far more developed than any of your kinds. You'd never comprehend it.'

She gave no argument, though he could tell she wanted to. She knew the consequences of disobedience, as did they all. And she _could_ obey, exceptionally, every order he gave to her. It was one of the reasons he had originally had her picked out of the crowds and brought to him. For a girl so quiet, her shadow was remarkable deep. As humans went, though, she was still simple and emotional.

Still. Those traits weren't necessarily _bad_ things if you knew how to mould them. He turned to look at her, allowing her a full look at his face –a sight she wasn't used to. Her face paled even further. 'Here's another joke for you human. Which of us two looks the worst to you?'

Her mouth opened and closed and still no words came out. A faint smile tinged his lip, if only for a few seconds. For a second he considered touching her hair, but then thought better of it. No need to expose himself to them more than he already had been. Why risk contamination on a shred of chestnut hair?

'What's your name?' he asked.

'Miyazaki, Sir.'

'I _know_ that one. _That_ name's not important, what's your _real_ name, Miyazaki? Your first. Unless your kind have stopped having them?'

He could hear her swallowing. '…It's Yuu, sir. _Yuu_ Miyazaki.'

'Yuu.' It wasn't an exotic name. But then, he hadn't expected one. 'You'll have to work harder, Yuu. I don't want a repeat of this incident.'

'But if—'

Ah. Apparently she _did_ say other things besides "yes sir" and "no sir". He saw her drawing in a breath and drawing in her nerves along with it. Interesting. 'If… if I knew what we were _doing_, sir. If I had more idea what… you wanted.'

'You know what we're doing, Miyazaki Yuu,' he said, calmly. 'We're creating –for want of a better word– a new form of life. You should be grateful for the opportunity. This test has failed. We shall make certain the next one does not. Do you understand?'

'Yes sir. I understand. I'll get them to help me fix it right away.'

'I'm counting on you to do so. While you get started on that, I have some… friends I need to talk with. Continue here without me.'

He left the large dark room quickly, leaving her standing, still looking down on the body in the pit.

* * *

**Reviews and concrit are appreciated. **


	5. Disturbances

Chapter Four: Disturbances.

_Eternity was… quiet. _

_Not _too_ quiet. Not like the endless corridors of a mind inside a puzzle or the darkness that came when his host was sleeping. Just… quiet. Alone, but not lonely, peaceful but never quite _at_ peace. Ultimately, it seemed that being dead was a lot easier than being alive, yet then again, death and mere sleep were not nearly as different as he had anticipated they might be. _

_The actual experience was utterly indescribable, but then who had the need to describe it? Something about the world below would always seep up to meet you. Or _down_ to you, or whichever wayward direction the world existed in. The sense of so many people on so many streets of the world, and the sensation of so many shadows in the land beyond the darkness. He could trace the continents, mentally, without any sure sense of where they actually were. Cairo. Zanzibar. The Blue Nile. Across the oceans to the coastlines of Europe and America, further round to Japan, Kyoto, Hokkaido… _

_There was no noise or sensation to speak of; no mysterious words in your head, telling things were out of place in the world. You were simply aware of the way things were in the world below/above/whatever it was, and yet it hardly seemed important. It was easy to tell when things were wrong. Maybe it was the same as the sixth sense you gained from years of duelling or ruling a kingdom. _

_It seemed the afterlife didn't like to bother it's occupants with the trials and tribulations of the universe, unless it were something especially important. The last time something had been important enough to warrant universal interference, a long dead Pharaoh had risen from his grave to once again face down the apocalypse. _

_And now, once again, he could hear –for the first time since… probably forever– a strange and distant scream in the darkness, and he knew that something was indeed wrong, on a universal scale of proportions. _

_And like so many times before in life _and_ death, he found he could not turn his back on it…_

_4:39 am, Block A7, Wing Rating: Four and Five Stars. Room A28. _

Yugi hadn't meant to wake up at this hour of the morning, but then, the woman screaming in the corridors was a pretty serious alarm clock.

You got into the habit of rising early when you didn't know what duel you were going to be fighting next or when the next apocalypse was going to try and rain down on you from above. If anything, the KC Grand Prix had turned Yugi into quite an early riser.

But never _this_ early. The sunlight was hardly creeping in through the curtains, but there was no going back to sleep now. Not with all the racket going on outside.

It wasn't the kind of thing Yugi had been brought up to ignore, anyway.

For one thing, it was soon obvious that half the dorm appeared to be out of their rooms. Whatever had happened, they were breaking tournament rules for it and nobody seemed to care. A gathering had formed in the corridor at the turn into the next row of bedrooms. Someone else –a security guard, probably– was muttering 'not again,' under his breath, quietly enough for nobody to hear. Except, that was, for Yugi.

'_Not another what?'_

'…Sure they're missing?'

'…Heard the screaming, _something's_ going on…'

'…Which one was it, anyway?'

'…Hawkins, I think. That girl they just put through.'

Yugi stopped dead on his feet, trying to work out whether or not he was hearing things.

'Hawkins? I know that one, the American. Some kind of Child Prodigy or something.'

Nope. Not hearing things at all. 'Rebecca?'

One way to find out for sure. Yugi started pushing through the gathering crowds, utilising his shortness to best effect. Most people didn't see him coming until he was already through them, though for what felt like a long while, he was trapped in a sea of shoulders and legs of people who all tended to be bigger than him. Nobody was yelling or talking loudly, but their constant hissed and whispered conversation sounded like an endless hum in Yugi's head.

Only when he managed to sift through the crowd did he realise the area was quartered off anyway. The area around one of the dorm rooms was sealed off with plastic tape, almost like the kind you saw at crime scenes, except this had obviously been thrown together at the last minute. There was no sign of the police or detectives. Just a couple of security guards standing around the half open door of Room A39.

'_A five star room… still in our block then, and that would be Rebecca's rating all right. But she wasn't up on the web reports last time I checked.' _

'You knew the kid?' One of the duellists he'd shoved between asked. Yugi hadn't actually noticed him staring –which was odd, given that this guy was pretty difficult to miss. He _was_ least four times as tall as Yugi, and at least a head above Joey, too. Clean shaven, head and all. Earring. Clearly of Japanese origin… yet he looked like someone more accustomed to rough out clothes and military gear, who had been forced into a tidy shirt in honour of the occasion. Also, asides from breaking the first rule, this guy clearly also had no qualms about breaking the no smoking regulations. 'I mean the one in that room.'

Yugi swallowed. 'Well yeah she…' he swallowed, telling himself (for perhaps the twentieth time in the last twenty four hours) to get a grip before he kept talking. They couldn't even be sure it was her yet. 'I think I might… if it is who I think. We're friends. What's going on here?'

The duellist gazed at Yugi for a couple of seconds. For a guy who looked as if he didn't have to be scared of anything on earth, the large competitor's hand was trembling as it tried to clutch the cigarette. As if this whole situation had spooked the heck out of him. 'Wait, you're that Mouto kid, aren't you?' he distractedly tried not to let ash drop on the floor. 'Website says they're thinking of pushing you up into the six stars category.'

'Um, yeah, but I need to know what's going on—'

'Well we _all_ wanna know what's going on I mean, jeeze. I swear this isn't the first time.'

Yugi could hear his own heart thumping. 'You mean this has happened before?'

'Beats me, kid, but there… there are rumours, you know?'

'Rumours?'

'Yeah. And now _this_ in our block.'

Yugi took a deep breath trying not to get shoved over by a couple of female duellists who had decided they'd seen enough (or _not_ enough, anyway) and were uneasily edging back to their rooms. 'What _is_ this in our block, exactly, mister…?'

'Oh, Trent. Sam Trent. Four Stars, from Los Alamos,' the taller duellist reached out a still shaking hand to Yugi's. Only he was so tense (and on the large size) that the handshake had the effect of nearly crushing Yugi's fingers. He was half expecting the guy's hand to be covered in tattoos, like something out of one of those American gangster movies, but all he had was a ring on one finger. Probably an American type wedding ring 'My friends call me Smokey. Reason for that is pretty obvious, but in my defence, I _am_ down to twenty a day now.' He gave a nervous laugh, beating the cigarette ash against the wall. 'I'd say it's a pleasure to meet ya, but… kinda not the best time for that, huh? You know you looked a lot _taller_ on television.'

'Sam,' Yugi rubbed his hand. 'Smokey. I'm… pleased to meet you; but I kind of need to know what _happened_ there.'

'Well don't look at me, kid, I'm just a competitor. _You're_ the big worldwide famous guy here, can't you get 'em to speak up.' his tone was one of slight envy, but nothing too accusing. It looked like everyone around them was too ill-at-ease to be bothered exchanging contact details. 'Uh… no pun intended by the _big_, by the way. All I heard was the screaming. Last they checked I don't think there was anyone in there. It's like the kid just disappeared into thin air.'

'See, you hear that, Joey? I _told_ you there was screaming.'

The voice came from behind and Yugi looked to find his friends obviously hadn't been abler to sleep through the noise, either. Tristan looked awake; though Joey had the appearance of someone dragged out of bed very much against their will.

'Joey, you guys heard it too?'

'Ngh. Me? Nah I heard it from _him_,' Joey muttered, giving Tristan an annoyed thump with an elbow. 'Told ya we should've left him in _your_ room. What's shaking? There been a murder, or something?'

Yugi opened his mouth to answer, but the next thing they knew, the crowd was being pushed raggedly to either side, security guards flanking a young woman under a blanket. Her eyes were barely visible, but were still wide and bright beneath the fluffy pink material she had wrapped around her head. Yugi heard Tristan whistling through his teeth. Joey let out a breath he must've been holding.

'Holy jeeze! What's with _her_?'

'Beats me, something big went down.'

Yugi swallowed, forming the words seemingly against the will of his mouth. 'It's Rebecca.'

'What's that? Yugi that's _definitely_ not the kid. That's just a Room Maid, or something—'

'No, not _her_, Joey. It's that room… I think it belongs to Rebecca Hawkins'.'

Joey swallowed a yawn and Tristan looked up, blinking. 'You're kiddin' me?'

'But,' Joey shook his head disbelieving. 'That kid? She wasn't even on the listing.'

'She could've been a late entry,' Yugi said, 'they were still letting people in the day before the tournament started, if they were good enough, the guards were saying something about that. I _swear_ I heard the words _Hawkins_ and _Little Kid_. How many little kids named Hawkins would there _be_ in this tournament.'

The whole situation was starting to feel a lot more serious. Had something happened to her? To Rebecca?

'But… wait. Whoa. Back up, is she _in_ there?'

Yugi glanced at the door uneasily. 'I don't know, they're not letting anyone in.'

'Not sure we should be _out_ here anyway,' Smokey said, stamping out his cigarette against the corridor wall. 'I mean you saw all those rules.'

'Forget the rules for now,' Yugi bit his lip. Surely a duellist's safety was more important? '_There's one way to find out,_' he thought.

'Shows over,' someone was yelling but nobody seemed to be listening to them. Everyone's eyes were still fixed firmly on the door. 'Back to your dorms before I have you all disqualified. There is to be no leaving of rooms of other discrepancies of the rules for another four hours _minimum_!' The two security guards and the maid had paused for a moment, seeing as she'd clearly needed to sit down for a moment. They were distracted.

Yugi took a breath and ducked under the tape. Joey opened his mouth to protest only to be elbowed silent by Tristan while, taking his chances, Yugi leaned out and peeked in through the half open door of room A39.

Inside the wooden frame, however, was nothing but blackness and a slight chink of light purple crawling in through the window. That was the weird thing, though.

'_Something bad,'_ Yugi thought, nervously. _'In here. Not long ago. If only Atem were here, he were still around he would've _felt_ it coming. I would've _known_ about this before._

_Rebecca…' _

_**You've no idea what it is, though, do you? **_

_**Not until it's caught you and cut you open. Not until the shards break loose. **_

Terror.

It lasted for as long as Yugi had his hand on the door and didn't exactly start to fade when he finally lurched back a little, feeling the corridor around him fading out. His skin seemed to crawl over his arms, '_like bugs in a tomb_,' his imagination supplied a helpful metaphor and he found himself clutching his arms and shuddering as if everything had turned dust, blown in a wind…

…And he was going to quit it with the creepy metaphors now. _'Shut _up_ already. I don't want to hear it.' _

'Where's Rebecca?' Yugi whispered.

No answer. He hadn't expected one, but the crawling sensation across his skin didn't lessen any. Until, that was, a large hand clamped around his shoulder. '_What_ do you think you're doing kid?'

Yugi was almost relieved to feel himself being pulled back away from the door and see the world zipping sharply back into focus. A security guard steered him back under tape. 'Get _back_ to your rooms already _the lot of you_, there's _nothing_ to see here, you understand?' the guard barked, but Yugi didn't hear him properly. He was glad to finally be able to edge back to where Joey and Tristan were still standing. For some reason, he felt like he needed them around right then. He needed them to be there. '_Maybe to reassure me that I'm not going crazy_.'

'**_I wouldn't say _that_.' _**

'Man, I can see how you got your title,' Smokey said with the slightest grin. 'Kid knows what he wants to know and goes to find it.'

'I've heard worse descriptions of the little guy,' Joey smiled. 'You okay there, Yuge? You look as if you've seen the undead.'

Yugi opened his mouth to say that everything was alright. Then shut it again, realising if he said that, he'd be lying. Whatever was going on, things were far from alright. And Rebecca could be right in the middle of it.

A quick glance at the Maid confirmed it. Only he didn't have long to look, because all the mingling competitors were being herded out of the corridor and back to their rooms, with even stricter warnings not to leave than they had already received.

The Maid, Yugi surmised a few seconds later when the chaos was beginning to die down, had looked absolutely terrified.

_8:35 am. Kaiba Corporation Main Building, Greeting Lounge. _

'No I _swear_ that's the way it went. And he didn't even come back to give her a ride home, just left her standing there. Huh. I hope he's happy now he'll never have to see her again… oh, you _know_ it's true. What? Yeah it's just so weird it's creeping me out and— Wait a second, Alice, I have another call on the line.'

Click.

'Hello you've reached the Kaiba Corporation Main Reception Line, please hold and you will be connected as soon as a member of staff becomes available.'

Click.

'Sorry Alice. These Japanese businessmen are wide awake for this time of the morning. I need to move back to San Fran… receptionists can sleep in there. Anyway, you were saying? Oh, yeah, the girl from downtown. It's so _strange_. She walked that street every day of her life for twelve years, they said. And then all a sudden she goes out one morning and… what?

'No! You don't mean…? She really _was_ the girl dating The Guy in the Monorail Station! I knew it! Hey, you don't think he's going to vanish too, do you? I should hope nor. Those sideburns are just too _gorgeous_ to vanish from the face of the—'

'Ac-_hem_.'

'…Oh. Um.'

'Good _morning_, Miss Karou.'

'I. Um. Good morning, Mister Kaiba I… erm, yes attendant those are the requested specifics Mister Kaiba wanted for the Tournament. Sorry to bother you, okay, bye!'

Click.

'Ahem. Uh, Heh. You were saying, Mister Kaiba?'

'Why in the name of _God_ do I _hire_ you people, Miss Karou?'

'Uh, the new knowledgeable greeting service requirement in your company policy, sir?'

'Exactly. Unfortunately. So if you wouldn't mind taking some time out of your _obviously_ busy schedule to show me some of your wide range of knowledge? Check my appointment listing for today. Try not to _miss_ anything this time.'

'Well there's…there's the appointment with your rivals in the San Francisco stock exchange about the unexpected slumps they've been having in the Duel Dice market—'

'I know about that. Cancel it.'

'…Uh. Excuse me, sir?

'You heard me, _cancel_ it. What's next?'

'Well there's… there are several calls on the line for you to take in your office.'

'Hang up on them; I'll call them all back when it's more convenient and if it's really necessary.'

'…Sir?'

'_Karou_.'

'…Sorry sir. Right away. Oh and there's also the dealers in Cairo, the communiqué with the messengers you have in Europe checking out the rival _Duel Holder's_ Company, the business meeting in—'

'Cancel them. Cancel every appointment, board meeting and summary session I have until after five pm this evening… Except for _Industrial Illusions_. Keep them on line. I'll take them in my office some time in the next half an hour.'

'…'

'Is there a _problem_, Miss Karou?'

'I… Um. No. No, sir. Just that you _never_ cancel—'

'I'm doing it _now._ And I'm not paying you to gawk at my decisions. Leave _Illusions_, delete the rest. Forget them.'

'Keeping the competition in shape, huh sir?'

'If that's what you wish to believe, Miss Karou, then do so.'

'Yes, Mister Kaiba… of course. I'll cancel them right away.'

'Good. Now don't disturb me for another three hours, and if my guest arrives…. Let him in. His details are on your desk from last night. No questions. Just let him in. But _warn_ me he's coming.'

'Yes sir. Right away.'

'Thank you.'

'…'

Click, creak, slamming office door.

'Oh, good _Lord_. Alice, are you still on the line? You are _not_ going to _believe_ this; I think we just entered a Twilight Zone here or something…'


	6. All About the Banter

**NB: there's been an important, albeit very small, change to the last chapter. (This is what I get for writing ad lib without a formal structure plan). **

**This chapter is mostly repartee with some important stuff thrown in. Since the next will probably be a little hard on the senses, I went easy with this one. Standard disclaimers apply.

* * *

**

Chapter Five: All About the Banter.

_9:45 am. Domino City GX Tournament Stadium, Food Court. _

The first of the tournament's official matches should have begun at eight-thirty a.m. but Yugi wasn't especially surprised that they hadn't. The story was the same at nine a.m., and then at nine-thirty, but since delays in tournament openings weren't all that unusual, they normally wouldn't have worried.

It gave Yugi another reason why he was probably going to try and cut down on duelling. Maybe even stop altogether, at least in public. After all, waiting around between tournaments, whether or not you had a world resting on your shoulders –or on the shoulders of somebody who happened to use your body… Yugi wasn't quite sure exactly when or where the saving-the-world-as-we-know-it duty transferred to him– wasn't exactly a highlight of the event. It made Yugi start to realise just how less patience he had for it, these days. How easily distracted he'd become…

But of course, he was still the world champion. He was still expected to be around…

**_Expectations will always be there, you just don't notice them until they're well and truly in control of you. Do you understand?_**

…As, apparently, were the little voices in his head.

And saying that, even just to himself, sounded so much weirder nowadays than it used to.

By this point Yugi was also starting to assume that maybe ignoring it or pretending it was his imagination wasn't a totally sensible thing to do. In fact it was downright stupid. But the thing was… he still couldn't be entirely sure.

'_Not enough sleep'_, he'd told himself. It had to be something to do with that. Only now, having been in that room where Rebecca had been, having felt what as in there…

He couldn't very well turn his back on that sensation, now, could he? He was too accustomed to the feel of the darkness to assume that it would go away, just like that, without someone or other to force it.

By midmorning the food court was petty crowded and Yugi regretted the early rising not so much as he had before. At least now there were hamburgers involved.

'What about that maid you mentioned,' Honda asked, trying to tease the remaining ice out of the bottom of a soda glass. 'I mean, didn't she say _anything_ to anyone?'

Yugi shook his head. The memory of the look on the woman's face was still giving him the chills. 'No. She didn't talk to anyone, she just… let them lead her away. It was like something had really spooked her.' Yugi half expected an unconscious, thoughtful nodding gesture from inside of his own head –another thing he was going to have to get used to there not being. '_Still_,' he thought ironically, _'apparently now I've got _another_ disembodied voice to keep me company. A way, _way_ creepier one.'_

'I got that,' Tristan nodded. 'It was like she'd seen a ghost. I tell you, not since that evil spirits Ouija Board card have I seen eyes that _goggled_ at you like that. Like she'd seen a ghost. Or worse.'

'And that feeling,' Yugi shook his head. 'I felt all that _fear_ just from the _doorway_, and she must've been right inside the _room_. Rebecca…' He shuddered at the possibilities.

'So you think she might have actually seen something?' Bakura asked. 'Or more appropriately – did she feel something. And if so why were the security guards unaffected? They must've been in there, too.'

Tristan shrugged. 'Who knows? But one thing's for sure –they're bound to cancel now. That's the third person gone. All of them in the same category, too.'

Yugi looked up, blinking. 'Do you have any idea where the other two came— I mean, where did the other two went?'

'Your guess is as good as mine, Yuge. It's just that when I went to make those calls, there was talking, amongst the security guards. Does the name _Dai-Wong_ ring any bells with you?'

'Um,' Joey thought about it for a second. Just a second, though. 'He's Chinese, right? Sounds it.'

'_Hiroki Dai-Wong? _He was the winner of the _Hong Kong Masters Tournament_ held in prequel to the _GX_,' Yugi decided to fill in the rather large gaps in Joey's memory. 'It was running at roughly the same time as _Battle City_. Apparently Dai-Wong shot from two stars, to five in the space of just _ten_ duels, though some people _are_ calling that a lucky fluke or an exaggeration. Nobody knows for sure. He'd hardly ever duelled seriously beforehand and he'd never been in a tournament.'

Joey whistled. 'Some guy, either way. _Three stars_ in _ten_ matches. Man getting to give stars must've taken me… twenty, thirty, forty… Gah! I forget how many, but a _lot_.'

'And then there's some other girl…' Tristan shrugged. 'Some Spanish competitor who flew over from Europe. I saw her name on the website flyers. She's not that special –only four stars– but still, she's been blowing a few duellists away in the last few months. Marianne… something or other. I heard them mention her, too. Sounded like she'd flown the coop.'

'Or else she was pushed outta her nest,' Joey said, and Yugi couldn't help smiling just a little, in spite of himself, at how obviously pleased with himself Joey was for that metaphor.

'You guys do this research in your spare time?' Bakura asked.

'Hey, there's not much else you're allowed to do in this damn tournament,' Tristan shrugged. 'Not that we'll have to worry, I mean I'll be surprised if they don't shut this whole thing down.'

'You think?' Téa leaned forwards against the tabletop. 'That after all this fuss, they'll just go ahead and cancel the whole Tournament? That's a _lot_ of disappointed international duellists who paid a _lot_ of money for their flights to get here.'

'Hey never mind the flights, Téa, even the _bus fairs_ are criminal 'round these parts.'

'And with Kaiba funding it?' Yugi shook his head. 'No way are they going to cancel now, no matter _what_ the situation. Kaiba wouldn't stand for losing all that money and like Téa said –there are competitors here from all over the world who I don't think would be too willing to just go without a refund.'

'There's something else,' Joey muttered. 'Ain't there?' Four pairs of eyes turned in his direction. 'It's just that… I figured –and don't think I'm starting to go all weird and suspicious on you all as well as Yugi here, but– all these people who've gone missing? That guy from China, and that lady from… Mexico?'

'Spain, Joe.'

'Yeah. That place. And now Rebecca Hawkins from America.' He tapped the words off on his fingers. 'China. Spain. America.'

Téa blinked, looking up from her soda as the idea caught on. 'You mean they're all from countries outside of Japan.'

'It's one thing they've got in common, sure. They're all foreigners. Pretty distant foreigners, at that, s'cept for the guy from China.'

'And you worked this out by yourself?' Bakura asked, unsurely.

'Hey, what's so weird about _that_? I _passed_ tenth grade, you know? I even got a C in English,' Joey added sarcastically. 'Anyway I've got a point.'

'You might do… but that could be just one of many connecting factors,' Yugi added, attempting to steal a fry from Joey's plate. Joey wasn't having any of it, though. 'I mean, there've only been three people who have disappeared out of at least eight-hundred or so competitors. They've _all_ been rated above three stars, they _all_ came from countries outside of Japan… heck, they could've all have had the same _eye_ colour, too, or the same birthday. They might even have been on the same train from the airport or something.'

'Yeah, well, it's the best guess we've come up with so far.'

'Maybe you're worrying too much about it,' Téa put in. Obviously she'd noticed the weirdly serious (or seriously weird) looks on everyone's faces and was starting to get nervous about it.

Then again, Yugi thought, hadn't _she_ been wearing that face a lot since The Ceremonial Duel? Probably. It was a pretty hard look to forget. How when Yugi _won_, she just wouldn't _look_, at either of them. Not until the pharaoh –until Atem– had turned around to face the final doorway and everyone else had started calling after him. Maybe that was when she'd realised it'd be her last chance to say anything _at all_.

You couldn't really blame her if she regretted that. There was stuff Yugi knew he hadn't had the chance to say, either. Things they all hadn't…

_**You never know, at first. But it's always there. Always has been. Stupid humans, you just never see it because it's glaring in your face. **_

…Wonderful.

Yugi screwed his eyes shut and, for what felt like the millionth time (but which was probably only the fifth or sixth), screamed at _It_ to shut up. This time, it did what it was told immediately. The whispering in his skull fell silent without so much as an echo, this time.

…He was really going to have to talk to somebody about that.

'…But people have gone missing, y'know,' Joey had obviously kept talking while Yugi zoned out. 'And Rebecca's one of 'em. So she's annoying sometimes, but that doesn't mean I wanna see her vanish off the face of the earth.' He leaned back in his chair, folding his arms across his chest and gazing at Yugi firmly. 'Been a few too many people trying to do that to us, lately. Always considered us lucky to get any of em back.' Yugi pretended not to notice the look. He was pretty sure Joey knew he was pretending, but was good enough to let it slide.

'Of _course_ not,' Téa said, 'I didn't mean anything like _that_. Look, I'm as suspicious as you guys, but it's just—'

Whatever it "_was just_"; however, they might never know. The alarm sirens were sounding over the food court and several already-uneasy duellists started rising from their seats, as if expecting a fire, or something. Only the sound lasted barely a few seconds before the speakers came to life and people started to relax again.

'_Attention all Competitors and Visitors of the GX Duel Card Tournament. This is an official statement regarding the current rumours many of our competitors have been hearing of over the last twenty four hours.'_

Yugi glanced at Joey mouthing a questioning "_Rumours_?" Joey's head shook, confusion plastered all over his face. They both knew for a fact whatever it was, it _wasn't_ just rumours, Yugi thought. They'd actually seen the room after Rebecca had vanished. He'd _heard_ the screaming.

'_They can't possibly pretend it hasn't _happened_…' _

'_The Four and Five Stars Dormitories of the nearby Stadium Hotel experienced some mild disturbances late last night. Our GX Officials would like to state that there is no reason to be concerned. Competitors are warned against spreading small talk amongst their fellow duellists. The problem is currently being dealt with and the tournament will proceed as intended with increased security measures and protection for all.' _

'Aw, man. Think it's possible to have even _more_ of those official dudes wandering around here looking creepy?'

Tristan shrugged. 'Bet they'll find a way, Joe, still if it stops all these disappearances…'

'Sounds more to me like they're trying to deny any _disappearances_ even happened,' Téa murmured, clearly resigned from her former point, whatever it was going to be.

'…_All competitors are to return to their rooms and prepare for possible call out. The Two and Three Star Competitors will begin shortly. Four Stars and Five stars will be active shortly. We ask that everyone remain in compliance with the rules and pay no attention to rumours and hearsay.' _

'Does that actually make sense?' Bakura frowned up at the speakers, as if just staring at them for long enough (not that Bakura ever _stared_ so much as _gaze intently _at things which interested or bothered him.) 'They say there's nothing to be worried about, and yet they're raising security? And was it my imagination or did they just deliberately mislead us about the true nature of the situation?'

'That's what it sounded like to me,' Yugi mumbled, giving Joey a knowing glance. 'What it _doesn't_ sound like is your every day tournament announcement. Something's really wrong here, I just know it.'

Joey groaned, running a hand through his hair, the way he did when things were getting way too complicated for his brain to want to deal with them at the same time as it was trying to handle all the other stuff.

'Okay, Yuge, _okay_. So maybe you had a right to be suspicious.'

'What? I didn't say anything.'

'Don't look so innocent with me, Yuge, I _know_ that look. Hell, I think I _taught_ you that look.'

'Joey, you couldn't do_ that_ face back in preschool,' Téa smiled far-too-politely. 'If anything _he_ taught it to you.' Tristan sniggered.

'Oh, Téa, that's not fair.' Bakura said, smiling calmly into a milkshake. 'I'm quite sure Yugi learned that one from me.'

Several jaws dropped in synch. Tristan's giggling turned into snorting and Téa gave Bakura a half laughing _who-the-heck-are-you-and-where's-Bakura?_ Stare.

'What's _with_ you guys?' Téa shook her head. 'One minute you're being these stressed and serious detectives and the next, you're back to good old fashioned let's-all-poke-gentle-fun-at-Joey mode. And I don't even _know_ who they replaced Bakura with during the night.'

'You call this _gentle_?' Joey muttered.

'Seriously, guys, who _are_ you people, and what did you do with my real friends?'

'Smokey!' Yugi blurted out, suddenly.

Téa looked up. 'What?'

'Last I checked we didn't have a friend called Smokey,' Bakura blinked. Nobody was quite sure whether he was being genuine there, or if he was just taking advantage of the moment to make another stab at rediscovering some long-hidden sense of humour, but it didn't especially matter.

'No, I mean… he's over there, by the door. Smokey. He's in the four and five stars dorm.'

'Who, that guy?' Téa peered through the rather large crowd to where Smokey stood, gazing almost curiously at the crowds gathered around him. It wasn't an especially _normal_ look on him, and he was obviously not paying attention to where he was going. As Téa was watching, he very nearly collided with someone attempting to open a door from the other side of him, which resulted in a rather messy semi-heap of irritated duellists, caught up in the same collision. 'You know him?'

'Yeah, I think we met Bobasa's reincarnation in the night,' Joey grinned. 'Trust me, I think he's harmless. 'Unless whatever you're wearing is flammable. Anyway, maybe he knows something.'

'That we don't?' Bakura asked.

'S'worth a shot, right? Besides, the guy's just gonna knock everyone outta the food court if we let him stay over there. 'Hey, Smokey, over here!'

Smokey, however, had apparently already seen them. Having picked up everything he'd just knocked over (including the people) he headed for their table. He half had to squash himself into the seat besides Yugi, for whom being fairly small was suddenly a great advantage.

'You guy's are still here then?' he grinned, placing down his tray. 'Figured more of us would've scarpered than have done.'

'Scarpered?' Yugi frowned, trying to discern whose fries belonged to whom in the new mess atop the table. Téa and Bakura blinked a little at the sudden appearance of a complete stranger, but quickly seemed to figure he must be okay, even if sitting besides him did make Yugi look even tinier that he already was.

'Yeah, you know. Got out while the outing was good.' He shrugged. 'What with all this disappearance stuff. We lost two more girls from our wing last night – not missing, they just up and left. Said they didn't wanna be caught up in the disappearances.'

'But the tournament is still on,' Yugi said.

'Hey, maybe excessively loud screaming in the middle of the night's not a good enough reason to cancel a tournament held just for fun,' Smokey grimaced.

'I'm not sure I'd put it so lightly,' Bakura said, seeming to revert to his formerly quiet self again in the presence of a stranger –and a stranger who resembled the guys Joey used to hang out with before Yugi turned up and totally changed his life, for that. 'There's quite a prize on offer for this tournament. Three Million Yen. The disappearances probably won't put everyone off.'

Smokey gave him a grin. 'You're in it to win then, huh, kid?'

'Oh,' Bakura hesitated, attention-wary. 'Well I'm… not actually competing.'

This statement saw him being on the receiving end of a rather rigorous hair rub from across the table, much to Bakura's surprise. Clearly Smokey just didn't always know his own strength, Yugi thought, remembering his handshake last night.

'Really? Ah, that's a shame. We need more internationals guys up here since we lost the other kid and—' he cut-off, mid sentence. '…and I shouldn't have said that I and I just completely forgot that you all knew her and yeah. Oops. Sorry. Open mouth; stick in foot.'

'It's fine, really,' Yugi shook the mistake away, but still found himself biting his own lip.

'Wouldn't be the first guy to do it,' Joey shrugged. 'No worries. I'm sure she'll turn up. That Rebecca's one tough cookie. She always finds some way to get back round to us.'

'Why aren't you all in this whole thing, anyway?' Smokey asked. 'I mean what're all you guys here for, cheerleading?'

'You could say that, yeah,' Téa grinned. 'There's nothing wrong with a bit of moral support.'

'Yeah except there might as well be, lookin' at the rule guides,' Joey snorted. 'We're having to work out who's cheering on who at which ring an' which time and then trying to find out how to _get them_ all there without messing up the _rest_ of those rules.' He rubbed his head, dramatically. 'All these regulations are screwing with my head. I mean _who's_ gonna be at my ring, again?'

'Dibs on Téa.'

'…Curse you, Yugi Mouto.'

'Nice to have a back up, does feel kind of lonely being here on your own,' Smokey grinned, and Yugi noticed he was still looking at Bakura. 'I mean, kid. You've got the duellist's look about you, you know, like you could turn that sweet little mug of yours around any second. Uh… not that I mean…' he glanced at Yugi as if looking for apology, Yugi swallowed. 'I'm not meaning to be personal or nothing, just… a feeling that you've duelled before. It's in how you hold stuff. Y'know. Duellists instinct.'

'I… don't really duel,' Bakura said, speaking very delicately, even for him. 'I used to, a little, but, now I…'

And now _he_ was glancing at Yugi, too. In fact _everyone_ was and Yugi felt himself shrink a little, for some reason he couldn't explain.

'Anyway,' Bakura said way-too-brightly, after a moment or two's awkward silence. 'I wouldn't stand a chance against Yugi and Joey. They've won too many tournaments and there are so many duellists here, it'd just be a little embarrassing to get knocked out in the first round.'

Smokey nodded, seeming to understand. For a second –just a second– Yugi thought he saw their new acquaintance grin ever so slightly, face lowered to the table. But the expression was gone as soon as it had appeared, and Yugi felt sure he must've imagined it.

'Better watch it, Smokey,' Joey smiled. 'You're hanging with the big boys here, y'know…'

'No puns intended,' Bakura blurted out. His hand shot immediately up to cover his mouth surprised at his own words. 'Oh, my… I'm sorry, that must've sounded…'

'Yeah,' Téa said, smiling at Smokey carefully, 'My friends have definitely been traded in for newer models in the night. And these versions have bad humour incorporated into their instruction manuals.'

'Guess a lot of people are pretty upset about the chaos, huh?' Sam asked, as if it wasn't already totally obvious how everyone felt.

'Upset? Pfft. Try totally riled up, man,' Joey muttered in the middle of his seemingly fruitless hunt for left over French fries. 'People vanishing left right an' centre and they won't even _do_ anything about it.'

'Stranger things have happened in tournaments, though.' Smokey said, seriously.

Yugi wondered, for a moment whether or not this was yet another example of what Smokey had called "_opening his mouth and sticking in his foot_". Having not known him for long, he couldn't be entirely certain whether such hops between lackadaisical clumsiness and sudden seriousness were _normal_ for Smokey. But then, people sometimes said that Yugi could be like that himself sometimes. And nobody seemed to think _he_ was all that normal.

And what exactly was ordinary, anyway?

'Man,' Joey muttered, finally giving up on his search for French fries (and probably the conversation at the same time.) 'You have no idea how much you got that right.'

'Yeah? How so?'

'Well, uh…'

As it happened, the warning sirens from the speakers overhead came at the perfect moment –just in time to save any of them having to elaborate on Joey's point about weirdness in tournaments.

'_Attention all duellists. Attention.' _

('Saved by the freaky voice from above,' Tristan muttered.)

'_The tournament is now ready to commence the first round of duelling. We apologise for the delay in reaching this judgement. The duelling will commence immediately. All two-and-three star duellists will proceed to the red entrance area on the left wing ground floor of the building. _

Pretty much most of the room started celebrating, but Yugi kept his face fixed firmly on the table.

'What do you know,' Smokey grinned. 'Looks like we're up.'

'_All four and five star duellists will proceed to the blue entrance on the right wing third floor. Duelling for these two segments will begin immediately under a random execution. May we welcome you to the official beginning of the _Domino GX Duel Tournament_, as sponsored by Kaiba Corp and the Chimera Society.' _

And within a matter of seconds, the room was in chaos. Or at least, _more_ chaos than it had been before. Duellists shuffling and rushing about, leaving behind their half eaten meals and struggling

'_Damn it, just announcing it on us like that after keeping us…_

…'_Whoo! Bout time, I'm all set here…_

'_Damn left my disc in my room…'_

…'_Well, here we go.' _

'_Yeah. Good luck, man.' _

…'_Wait, wait, where did he saw three stars have to go again?'_

'_I didn't hear, what did it say?'_

'_Aw, man, I wasn't finished…'_

'…_Come on, losers, get moving already I've gotta tournament to win.' _

'…_Jerk.'_

'_Come on, we'll be late.'_

'_Four star exit, four star exit, where the heck is the…' _

'…_Damn speakers…'_

'They're not holding them in order,' Yugi muttered.

'Say what, Yuge?' Joey glanced at him, obviously confused that Yugi hadn't yet moved from his seat.

'The ranks,' Yugi looked up, 'they usually start with one star and work up, why hold them all at the same time?'

'I dunno, time constraints? They're running late. It's not that weird, right?'

Yugi didn't look entirely convinced but for once, Joey wasn't really going to call him on it. He just sighed, shaking his head a little. 'Seriously, man, _chill_,' he said, then leaning down and nudging Yugi's shoulders, adding under his breath so that Smokey couldn't head. 'If there's something weird goin' on here, we'll find out what it is and then we can all go to save-the-world panic stations. We're not letting each other outta reach, I mean you believe that, yeah?'

Yugi looked up, barely moving as everyone else started to gather their things and Smokey struggled to remove himself from the space between the table and his chair.

**_You won't break us, you know. You won't. _**

Yugi tried not to wince.

'…Sure, Joey. Of course I believe you.'

* * *

**Hm. What do you know, only one scene. Well, reviews and concrit are appreciated. **


End file.
